Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette

This is more than a salad dressing. The effect is intended to be complex. Done right you should notice a series of transitions as the vinegars, oil, and herbs each make their own contribution to the flavor. A good balloon whisk will make short work of the emulsion formation. It takes me about a minute to get this to look right and I don't have to clean the blender!

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup red-wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp italian herb blend
1 tsp basil
1 tsp chicken stock base (optional)
1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional)
7 grinds black pepper

Whisk the oil and vinegars together until the mix is opaque and has taken a more creamy body. Add mustard. Add the chicken stock base, finely ground herbs, and pepper. Whisk to incorporate. Properly blended this should stay blended for some time due to the mustard's emulsifying action, but feel free to give it a whisk right before using to smooth it out.

Comments

Closing a chapter.

My last post was so full of darkness, I hate to follow on with another sad article. Life does not always allow for happy moments interspersing the less happy. For countless years ( honestly, I can't count this time in the morning ) I have been engaged in a hobby project writing a fairly massive software library of routines for use in adventure and combat simulations I call Zulu. When I started the project way back whenever I did weeks of research trying to determine the " best " game engine to use. Factors like ease of use, rendering quality, support, and cost all were gathered, then ground in the number-cruncher to determine a winner. In the end, Unity3d was the clear winner. In the last two weeks Unity announced a series of changes to its Terms and Conditions including how it charges for applications built using Unity that put a huge burden on developers, especially the smaller groups. Th...

Thoughts from the Back Porch

It's been a busy couple of weeks recently. There was an attempt to assassinate former president Trump. Amid mounting pressure, President Biden quit his reelection effort. Vice President Harris is now the Democrat candidate for that office. Ukraine forces have crossed into Russia near Kursk, making substantial gains. It was a minor miracle that Mr. Trump survived the attempt on his life. The shooter was nearly at point-blank range for the AR-15 he was wielding. My observations on the matter... After the attempt and subsequent killing of Thomas Crooks, his parents seem unemotional. Your son tries to kill a nationally known figure, then is shot dead by a counter sniper, and you just go "oh well"? The detachment shown is striking. The shooter was alone on that rooftop. However I'm not convinced Crooks planned this attack by himself. Somebody managed to radicalize this man enough to want to assassinate a major political figure. Where did he get the idea of using drones, r...

Just a country kid.

I've done a bunch of things in my life. Was one of those smart kids in school. A hard-core bookworm with emphasis on the sciences. Got a Bachelor of Science degree. Worked as a chef. Wore a few stripes working for Uncle Sam. Then spent close to 25 years in California working at a nuclear weapons research facility. Retired. Now a tutor, a mentor, and writing software when I have time. I'll always be a kid from the country. My parent's home is on a large hill. There were farms all around us, alfalfa fields bordering us to the south, west and east. Every season was special, but summer had one activity that was so routine back then and now you rarely encounter. In the shade of a covered porch, my dad and I would sit in our favorite chairs. Some iced tea, lemonade, beer, or a soda along with a cooling breeze made even the muggy days feel nice. We even enjoyed watching the occasional T-storm from that porch - the lightning bolts making quite a show from our dry and safe locat...

Porchside Musings.

Search This Blog